wbharper 's review for:

The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban
5.0
adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

This is a book I remember from my childhood; I returned to it by random chance. Re-reading it as an adult I still enjoyed the talking animals and toys, the pathos and whimsy; but this is a work of considerable depth and humanity. 
The protagonists are the mouse and his child, a set of tin toys enjoyed for a few years and then discarded in a junk yard. Partly repaired by a mysterious tramp, they embark on a quest for "self-winding" and to find their friends from their toyshop display. Temporarily enslaved, and then pursued, by the malevolent (and eventually redeemed) Manny Rat, they meet a fortune-telling frog, an avant-garde crow theatre troupe, a ponderous turtle philosopher, and many other colorful characters in their quest. 
It is a profound and by turns melancholy and delightful, and a children's classic not just for children.